Sigma/Star

Chapter 8: A Terrible Reception Part 2

Major Orellia of the Artisan Confederate levelled his high-powered rifle across the battlefield. His Goliath was a special build, an Orion class red and silver behemoth, with plated armour across the chest and arms and an intimidating headpiece to top it off, black obsidian eyes staring out at the enemy. It was known amongst the army as the "Red Emperor" and Orellia was just one more pilot in its long list of legends.

The Red Emperor had been in the army's circulation for countless years and battles and was constantly being refurbished and upgraded to keep up with demands. Those who wore it quite frequently found themselves involved with talks of legendary heroes or were being mentioned as generals down the road.

For Orellia, his father had been a great general before he retired and had used the Emperor prior to Orellia. Its heavy armour yet high mobility made it a tremendous threat in war but it lacked significant firepower compared to other special classes. Instead it relied greatly on the skill of its pilot when using its gun, a very similar weapon to what the average Exo class Goliath was wielding. So Orellia had learned to become extremely proficient with what he had, able to take great risks thanks to his battlesuit's blessed armour and following it up with precise shots into the weakest points of the enemy, usually at joints or small exposed circuits.

Orellia spun and fired off a bullet towards a Goliath lunging at him. A surprise attack? Not with his razor sense. The bullet cut along the enemy machine's right shoulder, where the arm was mounted into the torso, severing it and sending sparks and fluids spewing into the air. The Red Emperor rolled out of the way of the battlesuit as it flew by him in the air, its arm trailing it in humorous descent, and Orellia finished it off when it hit the ground with a second shot.

The area outside of this Enia city, Narrius it was called, was such a flat, boring landscape. The sheer size of the field surrounding the place allowed for much manoeuvring and the distances allowed for some cover, but without traditional obstacles like buildings or rocks to hide behind it was a different kind of battle. Orellia had to constantly be watching his different readouts, scanners detecting movements all around him at all times and different relays and orders coming through from the various scouts set up all along the front.

This war may be quite a long one. They could camp outside for quite some time if they had to and could simply attempt a bully attack on Enia, pushing them around until eventually they caved to overpower, but Orellia was not that patient. That and he wanted a little more recognition in life than simply Major Orellia, pilot of the Red Emperor and another soldier fighting in another war. If he made a large enough contribution to the effort and even granted them a speedy victory, perhaps a promotion to general wasn't such a far-fetched idea...

Another Goliath took a shot at him, this one glancing off his front armour and leaving an ugly scratch. In response, the shooter's head was blown clean off, leaving the pilot inside the chest without any visual feeds and stuck scrambling. Another Artisan soldier finished off the job.

* * * * *

Marian was pacing within the warship. Another day in battle and still no generals had appeared from Artisan, which was both a good and bad sign. On one hand, no general meant they hadn't had to deal with an extremely potent killer in the enemy ranks. On the other, this was just the preliminary force. There could very well be more still to come.

The general looked over the virtual battlefield and noted a particular space that had been highlighted. Many of his soldiers were falling there, to what appeared to be a unique Goliath, and a very famous one. The "Red Emperor," piloted by the young Major Orellia, or the "Hot Shot" Major, known for his incredibly precise, quick shots. He had done his homework in class. Hopefully those students they had sent to Easley would fare the same...